Movie Review: Sleeping Beauty

by paigeaddams

Hello all, and welcome! 🙂 Here’s the third of this series of four movie reviews – Sleeping Beauty.

Starring: Emily Browning (Lucy), Rachael Blake (Clara)

Plot (taken from Yahoo):

“Lucy is a young university student possessed by a kind of radical passivity. She lets a flip of a coin decide the outcome of a random sexual encounter and she displays an uncomplaining patience when facing the repetitions of her various menial jobs that fund her studies. One day she answers an ad in the student newspaper and interviews for a job to be a lingerie waitress. But she is secretly being initiated into a world of strange new work; one where she will have to give into absolute submission to her clients by being sedated; becoming a Sleeping Beauty. Eventually this unnerving experience begins to bleed into her daily life and she finally develops the will to break the spell by discovering what happens to her while she sleeps. With a fearless performance by Browning, Leigh creates a bold cinematic vision; one where Lucy, both in her clandestine sexual adventures and in her mundane daily existence, lives with the same unflinching and brutal honesty.”

Characters:

Emily Browning (Lucy) plays a character who’s completely numb most of the time. At least she seems that way to me. This character made me really, really sad, and it was hard to watch. She shows real emotion twice in the movie, and both times made me reach for the cake.

Rachael Blake (Clara) plays a “madam” (as in female pimp), more or less. The first time she meets Lucy she gives her a warning not to think of her job as a permanent one, and to have a backup plan. The way she said it, just her tone and the look on her face, gave me chills. Creeptastic in the extreme. She seems so sad throughout the movie, and once you get to the end you’ll totally see why.

Review Rant:

Let me just begin by saying that, since I’m currently reading 50 Shades of Grey and I actually really like the movie Secretary, I thought I could handle this…

There.

Now you have an idea where this one’s going.

Brace yourselves.

This movie was suggested to me by a friend, and I knew going into it that it would be much darker than 50 Shades of Grey or Secretary. I had the cake ready, just in case – but I was not expecting this.

This was hard for me to watch, and only got harder as the movie went on.

I kept waiting for Lucy to start caring about herself, but she didn’t. Or maybe she couldn’t? She seems like a complicated character, with some serious issues she needs to work through. I thought she had a strange kind of strength though, to just keep moving through every day.

I also kept waiting for some upward arc in the story. Some light at the end of the tunnel. Some hope.

But there is nothing.

This is one of those movies that slaps you in the face with a fist full of FUBAR. Repeatedly. A brass-knuckle FUBAR beating.

If I have to find something to like about this movie, it would be that they didn’t try to pretty up prostitution. On shows like The Client List, for example, they almost make it look glamorous. Everybody, both the clients and the prostitutes, is attractive and rich and happy and healthy, and nobody gets hurt.

This is the polar opposite of that.

And, if nothing else, this movie definitely made me feel something – although I’m not sure projectile vomiting was what they were going for. But if they were – they nailed it.

At the end, I was left with a feeling like – “Wait… What’s going on?… What day is it, and why are my pants on my head?” It took me a minute to digest what I was seeing, and once I really understood it I was uber p*ss*d because they just end it there.

You never find out what happens to Lucy next.

That’s it.

*BLAM!!* Here’s another serving of FUBAR – go on about your day as if nothing happened.

Okie-dokie, on that note I have to go comfort myself by watching Hannibal and then The Order – I’m working my way back up the depression ladder, as you can clearly see. I’m thinking I’ll end the night on a lighter note – maybe I should pop in The Lovely Bones or read Macbeth?

My rating for Sleeping Beauty: Emergency Cake – This movie is a seemingly endless downward spiral of FUBAR from whence there is no escape and no return. Bring on the cake….. On second thought, make it a double.

<– P.S. – I saved this for you.

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My rating system:

Epic: This movie is so mind-bogglingly awesome that I may go see it twice. This one will have a place of honor on my shelf.

Cash-Worthy: Good stuff. This will most likely find a place on my shelf.

Meh: Rent it first. You may love it or hate it, but I’m indifferent probably because it’s not my type of movie. I’m glad I saw it, but it won’t end up on my shelf.

Emergency Cake: I have an emotional reaction to movies sometimes, especially to tragedies. If a movie makes me sad or angry, sometimes it will stick with me for a while. At these times, only chocolate cake can save me. Chocolate cake makes everything better. No shelf for you. Ever.